The Merger Fund - Class A
MERFX
NASDAQ- -
USD
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- -
Capital Structure
FRC
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in mil. unless spec.Working Capital
FRC
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in mil. unless spec.Growth Rates
FRC
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in mil. unless spec.Quarterly Revenue
FRC
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in mil. unless spec.Quarterly Earnings Per Share
FRC
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in mil. unless spec.Quarterly Dividends Per Share
FRC
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in mil. unless spec.- Sector
- Financial Services
- Industry
- Asset Management
- Address
- 101 Munson Street Greenfield MA United States of America 01301
- IPO Date
- Jan 31, 1989
- CIK
- 0000701804
- Website
- virtus.com
- Similar Companies
- Business
- The Merger Fund (MERFX) is a mutual fund that seeks capital growth through merger arbitrage and event-driven strategies, investing primarily in publicly announced mergers, acquisitions, takeovers, corporate reorganizations, spin-offs, and other event-driven opportunities globally. The fund employs a long/short equity approach, holding long positions in target companies and short positions in acquiring companies or indices to hedge market exposure, with typical portfolio characteristics including 45 long positions, 10 short positions, 98% invested, and shorts comprising 17% of net assets as of September 30, 2025; it allocates across sectors such as communication services (31%), financials (23%), and information technology (12%), with primary regional exposure in the United States (79%). Class A shares (MERFX), along with other share classes including Class I (MERIX) and VL, are offered with a net expense ratio of 1.56%, front-end load of 5.50%, and minimum initial investment of $2,500, managed by Westchester Capital Management, LLC, a subadviser and leader in event-driven investing with over 40 years of experience evaluating more than 10,000 transactions. Launched on January 31, 1989, as the first mutual fund devoted exclusively to merger arbitrage, the fund is domiciled in the United States with total net assets of approximately $2.4 billion, headquartered at 100 Summit Lake Drive, Valhalla, New York 10595, and distributed through Virtus Investment Partners, Inc., which acquired Westchester Capital Management in 2021 to expand its alternative strategies platform. In recent developments, the fund completed 20 deals in the third quarter of 2025 alone, redeploying capital into 27 new situations focused on high-profile transactions; it maintained active portfolio adjustments, including top holdings like Mr. Cooper Group Inc., Endeavor Group Holdings Inc., Frontier Communications Parent Inc., Kellanova, and CyberArk Software Ltd., while Westchester Capital Management increased stakes in SPACs such as Haymaker Acquisition Corp 4 and Plum Acquisition Corp IV during 2025. Global M&A volumes reached $4.5 trillion by November 2025, fostering fertile ground for the fund's event-driven opportunities, with ongoing monthly updates highlighting robust deal flow in cash, cash/stock, and fixed-exchange ratio transactions.